"New Diode" / "Tweaked" KTR?

[Fingolfen]

Has anyone traced one of the newer KTR's with the "new" diodes and "adjustments"? I'm assuming the base circuit is the same, just some values that may change because of a different Vf on the diodes.

 

[Fingolfen]

I’m not familiar with DCA55, but it may very well have the capability—check the documentation.

I’m not sure what you mean. A chip is an integrated device and contains, as you said, massive numbers or transistors and diodes (i.e., discrete devices). When those discrete devices are combined (or integrated) into a single package, you get an integrated circuit.

Oscilloscopes, signal generators, and logic analyzers are absolutely used daily with computer chip and microcontroller development, design, verification, and implementation. The test programs you’re referring to all use set parameters with those instruments to test and measure. It’s a different methodology, but the tools are the same.

The DCA55 won't - see the comparison chart here... (Edit - the 55 will however at least give you the test current for the Vf test)

No one uses an o-scope for wafer level testing of 300mm wafers. You're talking hundreds of billions of discrete devices which can only be tested using an automated tester - which will then give you a statistical map of the performance of those devices to validate yield and bin split. At a very basic level, yes, the tests are doing the same thing - applying a voltage, looking for electrical hysteresis, checking i-on / i-off and switching frequency at various voltages, etc. - but that's where the similarity ends.

 

[benny_profane]

Okay, yes. I think we’re talking about slightly different things here. I agree with you—no one is performing a tape out design validation by probing individual transistor stages with a scope.

However, we’re not talking about high speed digital mcu design—this started with discrete semis. In those cases, designers are certainly using those tools. Beyond that, I doubt very many pedal folks are taking their projects to a wafer lab. For our purposes, we’re essentially using tech from the 70s and 80s (with a few enhancements added in of course).

Outside of the chip, ev kits are evaluated with signal gens and logic analyzers. If analogue signals are involved, scopes are still used.

The point I was trying to make is that ultra-specialized tools are not absolutely necessary to do the types of tests or measurements we do with pedals. That’s all.